High School Football returns around the Commonwealth for the 2021 campaign gets underway on Thursday night, August 26th, and it's a scorcher wherever you probably are, likely reading this somewhere in the Commonwealth. Earlier today, the heat index read triple-digits - 106 - at my residence in Virginia Beach.
Already, some games on the docket have been affected by the high temperatures, while others from COVID-19, which is still lingering around our nation sadly, though we are in a better spot than this time one year ago when there was no Friday night football on the horizon.
Let's get to some Picks for Thursday's action as I try to open this up statewide, where my ESPN Radio 94.1 co-host on '757' Saturday Sports Talk - Coach Ed Young of Nansemond River High - will participate once again in our selections around the Tidewater area. We have seven
"When we last left our heroes," as the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon used to say... it was yours truly Matt Hatfield edging out Coach Young with a 4-2 mark to his 3-3 in the VHSL State Football Championships that took place back on May 1st.
My picks for this evening, along with his for the lone Hampton Roads game over at Todd Stadium in Newport News between Granby and Menchville...
Mountain View at Forest Park... If you like big-time talent on the field, this game has a couple of names to know. For Forest Park on defense, they are led by Boston College recruit Gilbert Tongrongou (a name which may be a tad easier to say than spell actually), a hulking 6-foot-4, 255-pound defensive end who earned Cardinal District Defensive Player of the Year honor as a junior with 11 sacks and three forced fumbles. Mountain View counters with a stellar running back in Ike Daniels, a Class of 2023 with a growing offer sheet that already includes the likes of Arizona State, BC, Michigan State, Penn, Pittsburgh and others. Daniels rushed for 691 yards and 5 TD's on 110 rushes last season.
Junior QB Jackson Sigler could be the difference here as the Mountain View triggerman showed some promise in the spring with a 7-0 TD/Int. ratio, which included a marvelous 7 of 7 outing for 160 yards and 4 TD's in a 44-0 shutout of Brooke Point to earn a spot in the Region 5D playoffs. This marks the first ever meeting between these two programs.
Matt Hatfield Says - Mountain View 24-13
Granby at Menchville... Menchville leads the all-time series 4-2-1. Yes, there was a 13-all stalemate back in 1982 at Norfolk's Met Park. But in the most recent encounter in 2019, Menchville pitched a 21-0 shutout. The Monarchs showed some fight defensively in all four of their games last spring in which they finished a even 2-2. Each opponent they played they were able to hold to 14 points or less. That was enough in a 20-14 win over Bethel and 69-7 thumping of Denbigh, but not in a 7-2 loss to Warwick and 14-0 shutout they suffered at the hands of Woodside.
To get points on the board, Larry Archie's Comets will have to control the line of scrimmage long enough for junior QB Chad Bohn to find receivers like juniors Elijah Edmonds and Jeremiah Gainey. Granby didn't win a game in the spring season. Even though Menchville has to replace a 1000-yard rusher from the past in Geo Hales to graduation, their offense could find a couple of long gainers necessary with the experienced combo of QB Kevin White and RB Renaldre Hodges to pull this one out.
Matt Hatfield Says - Menchville 18-7
Coach Ed Young Says - Menchville 20-14
Menchanicsville at Deep Run... The Wildcats of Deep Run usher in a new Head Coach in Joe Mullinax, formerly of Brentsville District, and will look for similar success compared to their 37-7 win from 2019 over Lee-Davis, which Mechanicsville once was before the name change.
Matt Hatfield Says - Deep Run 21-16
Danny Lewis Says - Mechanicsville 17-13
Byron Jones Says - Mechanicsville 24-14
James River (Midlothian) at L.C. Bird... Although L.C. Bird leads the all-time series 25-2, the Rapids surprised the Skyhawks 25-24 in the spring and will try to repeat that effort on the road.
Matt Hatfield Says - L.C. Bird 23-10
Danny Lewis Says - L.C. Bird 31-16
Byron Jones Says - L.C. Bird 28-14
Henrico at Atlee... Atlee leads the all-time series 15-13, but will try for their first victory over Henrico on the gridiron since 2016.
Matt Hatfield Says - Atlee 29-14
Danny Lewis Says - Atlee 41-22
Byron Jones Says - Atlee 35-24
Union at Lee... When these met up in Big Stone Gap back on February 22nd, it was Union pitching a 28-0 shutout on their way to winning the Region 2D title. It'll be a tall task for the Lee defense to slow down Zavier Lomax (15 TD's as a junior) running the ball and lanky 6'5" QB Bradley Bunch, the reigning VHSCA Class 2 State Player of the Year in basketball. This marks the debut of new Lee Head Coach Joey Carroll, who inherits a Generals team riding a 23-game losing streak.
Matt Hatfield Says - Union 40-6
Ridgeview at J.I. Burton... This likely categorizes as the Game of the Night. Yet, the Wolfpack begin life without running back Trenton Adkins, who's now at Toledo after rushing for more than 7000 yards in his career and scoring 86 touchdowns in his three seasons prior to the pandemic. Adkins and QB Nick Phillips (17 TD passes the last two seasons) are among the 14 seniors that graduated for Head Coach Todd Tiller.
But the cupboard is far from bare at Ridgeview as WR Brandon Beavers is a big-play threat in the passing game and Ryan O'Quinn is capable of getting him the ball. In fact, they have five juniors on the offensive line and 15 returning starters, plus get back playmaking two-way talent Cannon Hill from a hip injury that sidelined him during the spring. Hill will make things happen at receiver and outside linebacker.
J.I. Burton has a three-year starter at QB in Jaymen Buchanan and plenty of weapons around him. One of them of note is 5-11, 190-pound senior Esau Teasley, who could certainly be in line for Cumberland District Player of the Year honors. Teasley rushed for 1124 yards and 15 TD's as a sophomore in 2019 for a Raiders program still smarting from seeing their spring season end prematurely before the Region 1D Championship against Holston because of COVID-19. Where Burton will have to hold up is in the trenches in order to beat the larger Class 2 Wolfpack.
Matt Hatfield Says - Ridgeview 20-17
Already, some games on the docket have been affected by the high temperatures, while others from COVID-19, which is still lingering around our nation sadly, though we are in a better spot than this time one year ago when there was no Friday night football on the horizon.
Let's get to some Picks for Thursday's action as I try to open this up statewide, where my ESPN Radio 94.1 co-host on '757' Saturday Sports Talk - Coach Ed Young of Nansemond River High - will participate once again in our selections around the Tidewater area. We have seven
"When we last left our heroes," as the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoon used to say... it was yours truly Matt Hatfield edging out Coach Young with a 4-2 mark to his 3-3 in the VHSL State Football Championships that took place back on May 1st.
My picks for this evening, along with his for the lone Hampton Roads game over at Todd Stadium in Newport News between Granby and Menchville...
Mountain View at Forest Park... If you like big-time talent on the field, this game has a couple of names to know. For Forest Park on defense, they are led by Boston College recruit Gilbert Tongrongou (a name which may be a tad easier to say than spell actually), a hulking 6-foot-4, 255-pound defensive end who earned Cardinal District Defensive Player of the Year honor as a junior with 11 sacks and three forced fumbles. Mountain View counters with a stellar running back in Ike Daniels, a Class of 2023 with a growing offer sheet that already includes the likes of Arizona State, BC, Michigan State, Penn, Pittsburgh and others. Daniels rushed for 691 yards and 5 TD's on 110 rushes last season.
Junior QB Jackson Sigler could be the difference here as the Mountain View triggerman showed some promise in the spring with a 7-0 TD/Int. ratio, which included a marvelous 7 of 7 outing for 160 yards and 4 TD's in a 44-0 shutout of Brooke Point to earn a spot in the Region 5D playoffs. This marks the first ever meeting between these two programs.
Matt Hatfield Says - Mountain View 24-13
Granby at Menchville... Menchville leads the all-time series 4-2-1. Yes, there was a 13-all stalemate back in 1982 at Norfolk's Met Park. But in the most recent encounter in 2019, Menchville pitched a 21-0 shutout. The Monarchs showed some fight defensively in all four of their games last spring in which they finished a even 2-2. Each opponent they played they were able to hold to 14 points or less. That was enough in a 20-14 win over Bethel and 69-7 thumping of Denbigh, but not in a 7-2 loss to Warwick and 14-0 shutout they suffered at the hands of Woodside.
To get points on the board, Larry Archie's Comets will have to control the line of scrimmage long enough for junior QB Chad Bohn to find receivers like juniors Elijah Edmonds and Jeremiah Gainey. Granby didn't win a game in the spring season. Even though Menchville has to replace a 1000-yard rusher from the past in Geo Hales to graduation, their offense could find a couple of long gainers necessary with the experienced combo of QB Kevin White and RB Renaldre Hodges to pull this one out.
Matt Hatfield Says - Menchville 18-7
Coach Ed Young Says - Menchville 20-14
Menchanicsville at Deep Run... The Wildcats of Deep Run usher in a new Head Coach in Joe Mullinax, formerly of Brentsville District, and will look for similar success compared to their 37-7 win from 2019 over Lee-Davis, which Mechanicsville once was before the name change.
Matt Hatfield Says - Deep Run 21-16
Danny Lewis Says - Mechanicsville 17-13
Byron Jones Says - Mechanicsville 24-14
James River (Midlothian) at L.C. Bird... Although L.C. Bird leads the all-time series 25-2, the Rapids surprised the Skyhawks 25-24 in the spring and will try to repeat that effort on the road.
Matt Hatfield Says - L.C. Bird 23-10
Danny Lewis Says - L.C. Bird 31-16
Byron Jones Says - L.C. Bird 28-14
Henrico at Atlee... Atlee leads the all-time series 15-13, but will try for their first victory over Henrico on the gridiron since 2016.
Matt Hatfield Says - Atlee 29-14
Danny Lewis Says - Atlee 41-22
Byron Jones Says - Atlee 35-24
Union at Lee... When these met up in Big Stone Gap back on February 22nd, it was Union pitching a 28-0 shutout on their way to winning the Region 2D title. It'll be a tall task for the Lee defense to slow down Zavier Lomax (15 TD's as a junior) running the ball and lanky 6'5" QB Bradley Bunch, the reigning VHSCA Class 2 State Player of the Year in basketball. This marks the debut of new Lee Head Coach Joey Carroll, who inherits a Generals team riding a 23-game losing streak.
Matt Hatfield Says - Union 40-6
Ridgeview at J.I. Burton... This likely categorizes as the Game of the Night. Yet, the Wolfpack begin life without running back Trenton Adkins, who's now at Toledo after rushing for more than 7000 yards in his career and scoring 86 touchdowns in his three seasons prior to the pandemic. Adkins and QB Nick Phillips (17 TD passes the last two seasons) are among the 14 seniors that graduated for Head Coach Todd Tiller.
But the cupboard is far from bare at Ridgeview as WR Brandon Beavers is a big-play threat in the passing game and Ryan O'Quinn is capable of getting him the ball. In fact, they have five juniors on the offensive line and 15 returning starters, plus get back playmaking two-way talent Cannon Hill from a hip injury that sidelined him during the spring. Hill will make things happen at receiver and outside linebacker.
J.I. Burton has a three-year starter at QB in Jaymen Buchanan and plenty of weapons around him. One of them of note is 5-11, 190-pound senior Esau Teasley, who could certainly be in line for Cumberland District Player of the Year honors. Teasley rushed for 1124 yards and 15 TD's as a sophomore in 2019 for a Raiders program still smarting from seeing their spring season end prematurely before the Region 1D Championship against Holston because of COVID-19. Where Burton will have to hold up is in the trenches in order to beat the larger Class 2 Wolfpack.
Matt Hatfield Says - Ridgeview 20-17
